Convicted man granted early release to attend college

A Kanawha County judge on Tuesday granted an early release to a former University of Charleston basketball player convicted of unlawfully assaulting a man last April.

Robert Keith Dreher will be released from the Anthony Correctional Center on probation in July, a month earlier than expected, so he can attend summer classes at Bluefield College.

Kanawha County Circuit Judge Duke Bloom heard during a sentence reconsideration hearing on Tuesday that Dreher successfully completed classes and vocational opportunities at the prison and was accepted to Bluefield College on a partial scholarship to play basketball this fall.

Dreher had been convicted to one to five years in prison in October after pleading guilty to unlawful assault stemming from the April 21, 2013 robbery and attack of Andrew Rude and Patrick Morrison. Police say credit cards belonging to the men were taken and used.

Kanawha assistant prosecutor Fred Giggenbach said Rude had no objection to Dreher’s early release and thought it was a good idea to see him turn his life around. Giggenbach also had no objections and said criminal law is not only about punishment, but about rehabilitation as well.